Awareness of diverse bacterial flora distribution causing pneumonia in Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Background: Pneumonia is a serious illness and one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity. Knowledge of etiological agents causing pneumonia is necessary for selection of antibiotics therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the diverse bacterial contribution causing pneumonia in Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Methods: In the undertaken study sputum samples of 159 patients with a clinical presentation suggestive of pneumonia were analyzed for detection of the typical and atypical bacterial pathogens using conventional microscopy, culturing and multiplex PCR. Results: Among 159 patients, mostly were male (56.6%) outpatients with age between 41 to 60 years (29.6%). Typical bacterial pathogens were detected in 102 (64.2%) patients from sputum culturing whereas atypical bacterial pathogens were detected in 6 (2.8%) patients using multiplex PCR. S. pneumoniae, H. influenza and Gram-negative enteric bacteria (GNEB) most frequently caused typical pneumonia among male and female patients of all age groups. Particularly, GNEB predominately caused typical pneumonia among younger patients (age < 21 years) and H. influenza frequently caused typical pneumonia among female patients. Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila and Chlamydia pneumoniae caused atypical pneumonia among older age (61-80 years) patients. Conclusion: Findings of the current study may be helpful to improve diagnosis of pneumonia and to provide significant information for management of patients with pneumonia in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan.